Wary of Apple and Google, Toyota and Ford team up to explore other options

Toyota will explore working with Ford on integrating smartphone applications into future vehicles

Toyota and Ford may join forces to maintain control of their vehicle dashboards as Apple and Google introduce technology targeting the car industry.

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, will explore working with Ford on integrating smartphone applications into future vehicles, the two companies said in e-mailed statements. Ford says its SmartDeviceLink technology allows companies like Pandora Inc. to develop apps only once for use in multiple infotainment systems, while also allowing carmakers to control the design of their dashboards.

By exploring a collaboration, Toyota and Ford are showing caution against letting Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto dictate the future of in-car entertainment and navigation systems. Dashboards have become a battleground for carmakers as they seek to attract younger customers who demand connectivity features in their rides.

Apple’s CarPlay system is seen in the touchscreen console of a Ferrari FF automobile, produced by Ferrari SpA, as it stands on display at the company’s stand on day two of the 84th Geneva International Motor Show in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday, March 5, 2014.Fabrice Coffrini /
AFP/Getty Images

“They’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears and a lot of R&D resources into developing their own systems, so how can you then say ‘OK, Google and Apple, come in and take over’?” said Mark Boyadjis, an analyst for IHS Automotive. “The car companies need to be very shrewd with how they integrate things like CarPlay and Android Auto.”

Automakers may sell about 31 million vehicles with CarPlay and 37 million with Android Auto by 2020, according to IHS forecasts. At those growth rates, these systems would be available in vehicles about as quickly as Bluetooth and auxiliary-cord inputs have over the last 10 years, Boyadjis said.

While Apple lists Toyota and Ford as partners that will offer models with CarPlay on its website, Toyota is absent from Google’s lineup for Android Auto.